Isaac, you write: 73A. The [Aussie critters] here are ROOS. There’s not an obvious point in the clue that would denote the shortened term, so I needed a crosser to figure this one out. Aussie is a shortened form. That denotes a shortened form, plus critters is slang, for lack of a better word, indicating a nickname would be involved.
@Vaer Not what I would call a ROOd awakening.
@Vaer PS Always a pleasure to solve a ACME construction or co-construction.
@Vaer Fair play! Goes to show even experienced solvers can get twisted up on a Monday...
My five favorite clues from last week (in order of appearance): 1. Felt something on your head? (6) 2. Having a strong sense of direction? (5) 3. It's cool while it's hot (3) 4. Provided entrees (6)(5) 5. Handled press agents (5) FEDORA BOSSY FAD OPENED DOORS IRONS
My five favorite encore clues from last week: [Mythical luster?] (5) [Small dessert sandwiches] (5) SATYR OREOS
"My A/C is better than yours!" "Stop putting on airs!" ("Sorry if I'm cooler.")
@Mike Why do I think your central argument may be full of hot air? (No offense intended. Just venting.)
@Mike when it comes to your puns, I’m a big fan
@Mike this crossword was a breeze
Mike, Of course you’re cooler. I mean, watt A/C pun could ever btu?
"I always like to work backward from the revealer..." as Isaac offers in Today's Theme, is a good strategy if you want to solve a puzzle as quickly as possible. I solve to savor the puzzle, not for speed, so I try to guess the revealer as I fill in the theme answers. It's your puzzle; solve it as you wish.
@Barry Ancona I've always been more of a tortoise than a hare.
@Barry Ancona Similarly, I typically get to the revealer when I get to the revealer rather than go looking for it. When a set a daily best for me, like today, that's great, but it's not my aim when I sit down.
@Barry Ancona A revealer was not necessary for this puzzle and the AC summer nod as we exit DST felt forced. The frost must arrive, winter comes.
I watched Lassie for years (with Jeff, Lassie's true owner) and Lassie don' need no stinkin' leash!
@Dan And you know that leash would just caught on something while Lassie was running through the woods, and then who would tell everyone that Timmy’s in the well??
Aww, this was Actually Cute for a Monday. Thank you, Kevin and Andrea, for this Adorably Charming grid 😍
This was fun. I enjoyed the theme. Thanks, Kevin & Andrea. Have a great Monday, y’all!
Caviar and mackerel Likes to swim au naturel A dolphin but not nice She's a killer whale Oreo black, Oreo pale Doesn't need no stinkin scales Some folks claim she's ill-defined Every time
@ad absurdum Amazingly creative. Absurdly cool. Absolutely capital.
@ad absurdum Unleashed just like Lassie Toothed JAWS near her chassis Though known to the Aussie She’s keen on kielbasy… Uh… Now PFFT
I hope they went for a double header and tomorrow's grid will be DC themed.
@RF. Someone already did a DC COMICS it was super fun DANA CARVEY …I can’t remember who all else, but it was clever! And KEVIN and I did an AC/DC two years ago… those letters appeared (together, in order) in each theme phrase <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/9/2023" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=1/9/2023</a>
Any puzzle with CLAM in it is perfectly crumulent with me, as long as there is no mention of chowder... I was expecting the usual kefuffle re: ORCA and was not disappointed. The misconception that ORCAs are not whales comes up every time an ORCA is correctly clued as a whale. I was also expecting the misconception that the end of the clue for 28D would be "at high tide" because that is when we are spared predation. No! All sorts of nasty predators come up from the sea and are actively hunting us at high tide. Crabs, fishes, and so on. We are happy at high tide because we get to be active then -- for example, we get to eat! During low tide, we have to, well, CLAM up. We cannot feed, we are subjected to thermal (and sometimes salinity) stress, we often have to go anaerobic, and so on. We get to recover from all that stress when the mother ocean comes to cover us again. And that recovery takes energy, so we have to feed! Glorious, succulent phytoplankton! MMMmmMMMmmm! Soup's on!
@CaptainQuahog I know I’ve shared with you that I have a home in Harpswell (cribstone bridge and all), but I don’t think I told you it overlooks Quahog Bay…..🤗🦪
Dear, dear, @CQ, the phytoplankton and I would like to point out--ever so gently--the hypocrisy in your attitude towards Soup.
Apt Collaboration of two Amazing Constructors produced Awesome Crossword. (I even solved it Ante-Caffeine.)
@Linda Jo Accolades Continue!
@Linda Jo. My fave Audience Comment! Thank you, Awfully Cute! Maybe we’ll have to do an LJ puzzle! LORD JIM, LITTLE JOHN, ummmmm
No stress test today, just a fun puzzle, elegantly simple. Kevin and Andrea Carla, thank you for this Monday gem. Looking forward to seeing you again LATER!
I've been 100% focused on the campaign (yeah, that's me ringing your doorbell) so waaaaay behind on the solving but this was a nice break. I'll save Saturday's for tomorrow.
@John Carson Good on ya. I've been watching the Jersey races since I'm up there so often visiting my mother.
@John Carson Good for you! People who go ringing doorbells are the best people to talk to, regardless of politics. My husband and I are on a 6 week trip and were so glad to get our mail-in ballots two days before we left.
@John Carson Ugh. All of our network TV comes from across the river (there's no TV station in DE) and we've been bombarded with Jack vs Mikey ads.
@John Carson Great! I've been among the door-ringers (in Winnipeg winters -- no joke!) and you should know how indispensable and worthwhile that is. You never know when an election will come down to a mere handful of votes.
Fun Monday puzzle - in the vicinity of dad jokes so right up my alley. Just a bit on the slow side, as it took me a bit to tumble to the trick, but that was just a nice 'aha' moment. A couple of fun puzzle finds today. The first one a Wednesday from May 16, 2018 by Jonathan Schmalzbach and Bill Albright. The theme clues and answers: "Nickname for a glitzy author?" JEWELSVERNE "Nickname for a clumsy composer?" CLODDEBUSSY "Nickname for a sloppy painter?" TOOLOOSELAUTREC "Nickname for a fiery philosopher?" BLAZEPASCAL And the reveal was: "Classic hairstyle ... or a hint to the puns in 17-, 25-, 39- and 51-Across" FRENCHTWIST Here's that Xword Info link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/16/2018&g=46&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=5/16/2018&g=46&d=A</a> I'll put my other puzzle find in a reply. ...
@Rich in Atlanta And my other puzzle find - one of the strangest I have ever encountered. A Sunday from January 5, 1986 by Julian Ochrymowych with the title: "Janus Style." Some theme clue and answer examples (with an explanation on the first couple): "DIAPER" SILKFABRICDESRUBMIER Divide that in two and read the second half in reverse and that's SILKFABRIC and REIMBURSED. And when you reverse the clue, that becomes REPAID. "REWARD" RECOMPENSEREHCTEKS Second half of that one in reverse becomes "SKETCHER" And the reversed clue becomes DRAWER And here's one more - good luck figuring this one out; Clue: STINKER Answer: TWERPNIAGAYLMRIFSKNIL A couple of others: Clue: "PARTS" Answer: ACTORSLINESTCIRTSNOC Clue: "LAMINA" Answer: THINSCALEERUTAERC Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=1/5/1986&g=26&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=1/5/1986&g=26&d=A</a> ....
Some extremely quick Monday fun.
@Joe What was awsomely clever about this puzzle? The theme was very simple, the fill straightforwardly clued. It was a fine Monday puzzle but nothing about it seems special.
@Joe. It was straightforward. But fitting in 7 long and good theme answers is impressive, imo.
Speaking of Aussie critters… I’m happy to report that mine is doing much better. He was struggling with severe back pain for a while, but a month of electromagnetic sessions with the Assisi Loop have pretty much returned him to normal. These days, he’s a much happier (and bouncier) Roo. Thanks to everyone who asked and gave support. And of course, thanks to the puzzle creators for another welcome shoutout!
Hi solvers, you may have noticed some technical issues with our website this morning. Our team has swiftly resolved them and you should be able to get back to your games.
Two pros produce an easy but pleasing puzzle, just the thing for a Monday. I do hope at least one component of the proper noun crosses will be known to everyone, to keep them out of that town on the Boston marathon. (23Ax11D, 24Ax18D, 46Ax39D, 52Ax52D+54D) Thanks, Kevin and ACME
(Also 32Ax27D, 57Ax52D, 16Ax9D+11D.)
@Barry Ancona There was a lot of trivia, wasn't there? Strangely, I knew all of it except for LEAH. When I was starting to do NYT puzzles in 2023, I probably would have struggled with more of the proper names.
A lovely clean sweep and satisfying Monday puzzle…kudos to the creators and to NYT for publication! Happy Monday 🦋👏🥳
The clue for 72 across is so clever and it was fun to solve. Kudos. Re the Aussie critters--the abbreviation indicator in the clue is the word "Aussie."
@Ms. Billie M. Spaight I came here to say that :)
As much as I love Andrea's work, I thought this one to be ridiculously easy, even for a Monday.
@Steve L I know what you mean, but even though I enjoy Thursday-Saturday puzzles the most, there is almost nothing I hate more than a hard Monday. It's the day for an easy, relaxing win. It's also a gateway for new solvers. It should be as simple as possible.
@Steve L And I thought this one had some nice clueing, which I caught even as I whizzed by. Just right for a Monday, which of course is to be expected by these excellent constructors!
@Steve L It’s Monday, the day for newcomers to enter into the hobby. As many people tell me on Thursdays, if you don’t like it then don’t play it and hit the archives.
@Steve L Agreed, ACM's talent was wasted on this pedestrian puzzle.
A fast solve for me as well, but fun and clever. Perfect for a Monday puzzle.
Yes, I feel I've been doing this crossword long enough now to be confident of saying, "Very Monday-ish". I did get a bit stuck on LOCAL, it not being a term I use for trains. I don't use express either really. It's fast train or slow/stopping train, although I once asked a train guard if the next train was 'the fast one' and he said, "They all travel at the same speed .... " I didn't realise there was a revealer until almost the very end; I had ignored the clue because I thought it would be an unknown US cold drink. Then I couldn't think what an AC could be. Air conditioning is rare here, it didn't spring to mind at first. All in all, very satisfactory.
@Jane Wheelaghan Based on a quick look at the transit map and what I remember from being in London a long time ago, I don't think the Underground has LOCAL and express trains. In New York, most subway lines are built with four tracks. The LOCAL trains, which make all the stops, run on the outer tracks. The express trains, which run on the inner tracks, make only the major stops. Local stops have platforms on the outer walls of the station, and the express trains on the inner tracks whiz by. Express stops have platforms between the local and express tracks.
Jane, The terms "local" and "express" have always been used on all levels of U.S. rail passenger transport, not just on the NYC Subway.
An amazing piece of crossword construction on a simple Monday solve. Thank you.
Message for Mr Fagliano: The clue for 4 down in today's mini is based on several myths. First: the "seven" story goes back to an academic article by George Miller in the 1950s, titled "The Magic Number Seven--plus or minus two". It noted that most people could repeat betweenn 5 and 9 random digits read to them rapidly. Later research showed that this is a function of the "phonological loop," a section of the mind's language-processing capabities that keeps the most recent 2 seconds or so of heard speech in the forefront of memory. As a result, Chinese has a "magic number" of 9, plus or minus 2, because Chinese digits can be spoken very rapidly. For Welsh, the number is 6. That phone numbers have 7 digits is utterly unrelated to this. First, they haven't always had 7--and with an area code required in overlay areas, they have 10 nowadays. In other countries, the number of digits is variable! My folks in Germany had a 5-digit number with a 4-digit area code. My sister lives in a big city with a 2-digit area code. Her phone number has 6 digits; the fax number, 8. So, ultimately the "magic number 7" story boils down to what one retains from the most recent 2 seconds of speech--and nothing else.
@Roger Lusti Maybe address Mr. Shortz, the editor of this puzzle???
@Roger Lustig I reckon it took you longer to post this than to do the Mini. On a related note, 7 Up is quite popular in china, as it translates to "Seven Happinesses," which is a Buddhist principal of virtue. Drink soda, attain enlightenment.
I missed the revealer since 65D had long since been filled in, but I should have been curious about the clues marked with asterisks. I guess I was tired and wanted to hurry to bed.
So points for above average amount of theme material for a Monday, and smooth fill. Not a very tight theme though and nothing particularly enjoyable in the solve or clues. So call it a very workmanlike Monday that gets the job done.
@SP I agree with your comment so much that I won't be writing my own.
Thank you, Andrea and Kevin, for a smooth & fun Monday solve - a wonderful way to begin the week! I enjoyed the cluing for the AC theme as it unfolded - hope we'll see more from the two of you!☺️
Not much to say about a Monday puzzle, but I did appreciate the samovar in the column photo, as samovar is one of my favorite words. It ranks right up there with imaret and thurible. Whew, good thing we had a revealer, or I would have been All Confused.
Fun one: 12D make me laugh! As did the mental image pairing the action of [tree frogs] and [ballerinas]. 28D had me smiling about our resident quahog, for sure. Such a funny phrase, but a good reminder of a certain type of contentment when I tend to be full of the jitters these days. I thought maybe we were headed for a pangram, but alas no F, G(!) or Z. Thanks, Andrea and Kevin! Now I have the All Clear to start my day (and my week!).
65D, the one in my window should have been put away a month ago. Now I’m really feeling the heat.
I thought ORCAs were dolphins, not whales... no?
Round and round we go... "The orca, or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family." <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca</a>
@Michael they are dolphins; that tripped me up.
@Michael as a minimum the NYT should choose what they clue. We’ve had the clue “members of the dolphin family that preys on dolphins” — or words to that effect — solving to ORCA.
@Barry Ancona ok, I'm looking forward to the next cluing of HUMAN as "Old World Monkey." It should be done, if it hasn't! <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catarrhini" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catarrhini</a>
@Michael Regardless they are surely large-toothed and not large toothed whales, being rather diminutive for the category.
Four letters with any reference to marine mammal always assume ORCA. Its the OREO of the sea.
axe MAN?! Give me a break.
@Sally Indeed. Nancy Wilson would like a word... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVcl0Iw3fs8&list=RDqVcl0Iw3fs8&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVcl0Iw3fs8&list=RDqVcl0Iw3fs8&start_radio=1</a>
@Sally According to the internet rumor mill, the original entry was: Proctologist vanity plate on Seinfeld. It was rejected.
Nice one Kevin and.. my dove. Thank you both!
That was easy and fun, perfect for a Monday puzzle!
This felt pretty easy for me (as it should on a Monday), but not "too easy," as some seem to suggest. I've been doing the NYT Crossword for long enough that in order to have even the slightest chance at a personal best, I need to be 95% accurate on the first pass through the horizontal clues. I wasn't close to that, but everything came together very satisfyingly on the verticals. Fun Monday!
Augustus Caesar because of I, Claudius and that wonderful adaptation shown in the US on PBS in the 1970s. But being from the Bay Area, also the tragedy of Allen Cedric.
@sonnel Augustus Caesar, and the transition of Rome from a republic to an imperial monarchy*, has been on my mind a lot recently, for, , , reasons. But if you want another take on Octavius Augustus Caesar, may I recommend the HBO series Rome--the boy who plays an adolescent Octavius (in season one) is amazing! *but they never had a king after 509BCE--oh no!
One of the cleanest grids I've seen! Nice work. Perfect Monday.
New personal best*, breaking a barrier that I struggle to break! And that's solving most of the puzzle at work, on my lunch break, on my phone--I left the 40A and 65D blank, to be filled in once I got home. It can do much more than go "Oom-pah"!: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ts23tALni4&list=RD7ts23tALni4&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ts23tALni4&list=RD7ts23tALni4&start_radio=1</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY30Eya0PGg&list=RDAY30Eya0PGg&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY30Eya0PGg&list=RDAY30Eya0PGg&start_radio=1</a> *or so I believe--some of the times on my "stats" page are completely whackadoodle! Stats says I completed Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, thirty seconds fast than today. Yeah, right!
@Bill That's all you got? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OO7sityUwE&list=RD_OO7sityUwE&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OO7sityUwE&list=RD_OO7sityUwE&start_radio=1</a>
Clean as a whistle...great Monday puzzle!
when i niggle late week i am often chided here with the injunction: the later in the week the bendier the clues. so today i will pick the nit that while a cranium is part of a skull it is not synonymous with a skull, as the skull includes the bones of the face and the jaw. which the cranium does not. now...is monday too late in the week to quibble?
@Matt cranium is the latin word for skull and the official anatomical term for the part of the skull that isn't the face/jaw is the neurocranium (i.e. braincase) so I think this clue is fair enough
@Matt These are *clues*--not definitions. Thus exactitude is not required. Especially not on a Monday, and this Monday in particular. You are of course correct, except that this is a crossword puzzle, not an exam, so lenience is expected. Possibly this puzzle was chosen because most citizens are dealing with the Time Change that creates havoc semi-annually... For example, our cat is not on board with the time alteration, and she was beside herself at 5 a.m. when I didn't get up and check the food bowl....
@Matt Honestly I’ve learned that no matter what someone will comment to be contrarian here. These are NYT Crossword devotees and they won’t have their precious subscription go to waste 🤣
Critter? I would have thought it was a bit too large to be called a critter…
@RP Apparently a critter can be any creature or animal, not only a small one. I was probably as surprised by the dictionary definition as you were.
Nice to be back to regularly scheduled pleasant Monday crosswords after last week
One more late puzzle find. This one was all in the clues - a Sunday from September 8, 2019 by Joe DiPietro with the title: "Well, well, well, if it isn't..." This one was all in the clues. Some examples: "... the guy who vows to take his Stetson to the grave" BURYTHEHATCHET "... the fraternity guy who wants to be a cardiologist" HEARTBROKEN "... the guy who barely shows he's exasperated" SHORTSIGHTED "... the gal who delivered the greatest put-down ever" WHATADISGRACE "... the gal who loses it when pass plays are called" GROUNDNUTMEG "... the guy who can't stop bragging about Bragg" FORTLAUDERDALE And there were more. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/8/2019&g=73&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=9/8/2019&g=73&d=D</a> ...
Liked the cross of STAN and TREX as STAN is the name of a TREX fossil found in South Dakota in the late 80s.